


Another Perspective

by ohsomanylovelywords



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: A series of unrelated drabbles, But mostly other character reactions, F/M, It was fun delving into the minds of the other characters, More characters to be added as I continue, POV First Person, Slight but very out of context spoilers, Some cute Kyoru moments, Unrequited Kagura/Kyo, Unrequited Momiji/Tohru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-08-13 07:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20170471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsomanylovelywords/pseuds/ohsomanylovelywords
Summary: Kyoru (Kyo/Tohru), but from the perspective of all the other characters.





	1. Momiji POV - Worth the Heartbreak

Kyo’s staring at Tohru, entranced as she completes the mundane task of folding laundry. It’s sweet, sickeningly sweet. I kind of feel like I’m going to throw up, to be completely honest. Instead, I put on an exaggerated smile and wrap an arm around Tohru. I want to be a little possessive, just this once. “Tohru, you work too hard. Let’s get away from grumpy Kyo and go for a walk.”**  
**

Kyo scowls, playing the part, but breaks into an easy smile, ruffling my hair. “Have fun, you two,” he calls, as we walk out. I’m not even a threat. 

Tohru turns to me and smiles, her eyes focused solely on mine. “Where to today, Momiji-kun?” It’s a completely harmless, platonic question, but she asks it like it’s the most important question in the world, like I’m the most important person in her world right now. Even if it’s just right now. 

“There are so many pretty flowers in bloom right now, so let’s go on a mission to collect them all!” 

She smiles again, pleased with the idea. “We could make a bouquet for everyone,” she decides excitedly. I return her smile with one of my own.

We walk along the path for at least half an hour, adding flowers to our collection and talking animatedly about the weather, the shape of the clouds, whatever catches our attention.

“Oh!” Tohru exclaims. “That flower is just like Kyo-kun’s hair.” I stare at the orange flower and concede to the truth in that statement. 

Adding a few of the flowers to our basket, I continue walking until I spot a row of delicate yellow flowers along the path.

Threading them into a flower crown, I place them on her head. “You look beautiful,” I say easily. Tohru blushes at the compliment. She sees the world as beautiful, but she rarely sees it in herself.

I make a flower crown for myself, freeing my hands. “You look cute, too, Momiji-kun!” 

I smile and hold her hand as we walk back. She squeezes my hand, and comments on a rabbit-shaped cloud in the sky. As we walk, the clouds shift above us. Tohru doesn’t notice and I don’t point it out. But the long bunny ears have become shorter and the rabbit cloud has grown a tail.

We turn a corner and Shigure’s house is in view. I know days like this won’t last forever. I have limited time. Days, maybe weeks until they figure out what we all already know. “Do you want to go out again tomorrow?” 

Maybe minutes. Tohru doesn’t answer. She’s staring at the house. Kyo’s lounging on the porch, unaware. “Tohru-kun?” 

The question startles her. “Sorry, Momiji-kun, what did you say?”

I wave off her concern. “Nothing. I’m just excited to be spending time with you.” 

She turns to me fully and smiles yet again. My heart wants to burst from the warmth in that smile. 

Kyo greets us before we even reach the door. “Nice flowers,” he comments.

“Do you want a flower crown, too?” Tohru asks, clearly worried he feels left out. Kyo chuckles and touches hers lightly. “No, I don’t think that’d suit me.”

“No?” Tohru says, with the slightest disappointment. Taking off my own flower crown, I start to hand it to Kyo. “Wait,” she exclaims, but my hope vanishes a second later. Reaching into the bouquet, she adds the orange flower to the crown. It completely overpowers the smaller yellow ones. 

Kyo looks slightly put out, but places it on his head and looks to her for approval. She smiles with delight. “Perfect.” Embarrassed, he blushes and smiles back, not quite staring back at her. Neither notice I’ve walked away, but I smile and wave goodbye anyhow.

I don’t have a chance, and I know it. But a smile and a heart like that is worth the heartbreak.


	2. Uo POV - Not Ready Yet

Poor Kyo. That boy has it bad. That being said, he deserves every ounce of embarrassment he gets. If he can’t handle being teased by Tohru’s friends, there’s no way he’d survive the full force of Tohru’s love.

Kyo is smiling at Tohru like she’s just told him Yuki tripped down the stairs, when in reality, she’s just listing the ingredients she needs to buy for dinner.

“Hey, break it up, love birds! I’ve gotta head to work soon.”

Tohru blushes profusely. “We— we’re not, um.” She looks to Kyo for assistance but despite an equal blush, he’s just as curious to hear how she plans to finish that sentence.

The tension is palpable. I wonder if something happened between them recently. But I can’t stand here all day while those two try to figure their shit out.

“No man will ever be good enough for our Tohru-kun. Don’t worry, Tohru, I’ll marry you.”

“You wish,” Kyo says.

“And you don’t?”

“I— I,” Kyo sputters in frustration. Red-faced, he turns away from the group.

“You two are so alike,” Tohru says, smiling. She seems to have calmed down considerably.

“Maybe Uotani-san and Kyo should date?” Yuki says with a smirk, clearly enjoying the opportunity to get a rise out of Kyo.

“Not a chance!”

And at the same time, “Over my dead body!”

“I think opposites attract better, in this case,” Hana muses.

Tohru stares wide-eyed at us, before averting her eyes and decidedly staring at the ground.

“I was just kidding, Honda-san.” But despite our protestations and Yuki’s reassurance, Tohru’s belated laugh is unconvincing. Kyo quirks an eyebrow at her, but she doesn’t look him in the eye and he doesn’t comment further.

“Come on Tohru, let’s walk to work together!” I loop my arm in hers and we say goodbye to the rest of the group.

We walk in comfortable silence for a few blocks before Tohru stops abruptly.

“Uo-chan, do you like Kyo like that?” she says quietly.

I smile at her warmly and pat her head. “He’s fun to hang out with and make fun of, but no, definitely not.” 

“Oh, ok.” Tohru smiles at her hands as they continue walking.

“Do you— ,” I start to say, but Tohru freezes again, so I change tracks, “want to get some employee-discounted snacks before you head to work?”

Tohru is visibly relieved.

Neither of them is ready yet, but I’m rooting for them. The idiot makes her happy, and Tohru deserves to be happy. 

Once they can handle our teasing without combusting into embarrassed and/or frustrated flames, I’ll know they’re ready. Until then, I’ll keep supporting Tohru, but Kyo’s not off the hook yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one up is Kagura!


	3. Kagura POV - A Different Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victor is inspired by kyon-kichi (it/xe, they them) from Tumblr (and the Fruits Basket Fanfic Friends Discord) because Victor said, "i love kagura so much,,,, idk why but i will marry her," so I felt it was my mission to make that a possibility.

His stupid face. And his stupid smile.

I remember that first smile so clearly. A little boy drawing fried eggs in the dirt. He looked so lonely. But then I grabbed his hand, and he smiled. 

Every day we played together, that timid smile grew a little brighter. And, it made me feel so good. Like _ I _ was so good.

But I wasn’t good enough. Not when it really mattered.

I still remember the bracelet sliding from his wrist and, reflected in his transformed eyes, the smile sliding so easily from my face. 

After that day, his smiles were always guarded, hidden behind a veil of self-deprecation or anger. I’ve probably spent half of my life just categorizing his smiles.

**1\. His smile when Sensei praises him**

Back then, Kyo rarely ever smiled. His mother hid him. His father blamed him. We pitied him. Then, Sensei took him in. At first, it was as if Kyo’s face was breaking with the effort to keep a smile off of it, like he felt guilty for being so happy. But he quickly grew accustomed to Shihan's patience and kindness.

At the dojo, he would watch in awe as Sensei taught us martial arts. When Kyo was old enough to train with us, he was eager to prove his skills, enthusiastically imitating Sensei’s moves.

“Good work, Kyo!” He lit up with every word of encouragement. Later, Kyo would be embarrassed when Shihan praised him, but even then, he couldn’t quite keep the grin off his face.

**2\. His smile when he’s competitive and gearing up for a fight**

When Kyo returned, I thought that would be my only chance to see him smile. He and Yuki couldn’t stand the sight of each other, but at least their fights gave Kyo a reason to get excited.

Once, Yuki was walking by the dojo. He didn’t even enter, but Kyo took his proximity as an affront in and of itself. 

“What are you doing here?”

Yuki looked at Kyo with barely concealed annoyance and pointed past him to Tohru sitting in the corner. “I’m walking Honda-san to work, remember? Because you were too busy at the dojo to accompany her.”

Seething, Kyo squared off against him. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, how can Honda-san possibly rely on someone so simple-minded he’ll spend hours training just to lose every fight because he refuses to go off the offensive?”

“Wanna bet?” Kyo’s canines glinted in challenge. 

He made several impressive attempts, but Yuki avoided each attack until he found an opening and sent Kyo flying.

“Ready, Honda-san?”

Tohru looked conflicted. “But, Kyo-kun…”

“Just leave him. You shouldn’t be late to work on his account.”

Kyo scowled, ready for another fight. “I bet I could bring her there and back faster than you could.”

“Be my guest. Looks like you could use the chance to cool off,” Yuki said, dryly.

Kyo dragged a confused Tohru toward the path. “Let’s get going.”

“Wait, Kyo-kun, I need my bag.”

Kyo waited off to the side while Tohru gathered her things and said goodbye to everyone.

Impatient, Kyo called after her. “Come on, Tohru, you don’t want to be late.”

Tohru rushed back to him and smiled. “I’m not worried. If Kyo-kun is walking with me, I know we’ll get there on time.”

Flustered, Kyo blushed and pushed her ahead of him onto the path.

He had more reasons to smile than he used to.

**3\. His smile when he’s teasing someone**

Kyo probably wouldn’t admit it, but he actually enjoys spending time with people.

I’ve seen him talking to friends outside his school, challenging them to card games or a round of basketball, always insisting he’ll kick their asses. He may seem like a sore loser, but that’s just because he puts all of his emotions into whatever he’s doing. And, that competitive energy gets everyone else excited, too. Excluding Yuki, I think Kyo genuinely likes competing with others.

Lately, when Haru tries to goad Kyo into a fight, he obliges, enjoying the chance to show off his skills and help Haru hone his. When Momiji invites Kyo to join in on a fun activity, he usually does, no matter how childish he claims it seems. And, when either of them starts telling some outlandish story, Kyo just shakes his head, amused. He treats Haru and Momiji like annoying little brothers. But, even when they get on his nerves, you can tell he cares about them by the way they make him laugh.

Then, there’s Tohru. At first, I tried to ignore it, but he’s just so painfully obvious. Nearly everything she does makes him smile, whether intentionally or by accident. He’s always teasing her, flirting even when he doesn’t realize he’s doing it.

Over time, he’s become so much freer with his smiles, but I hate that ugly part of myself that still wishes I was the only one who could elicit that response from him.

**4\. His smile when he’s letting me down gently**

When I finally confessed to him, he didn’t yell or get angry. He was so calm. And that’s when I really knew it was over.

I had been clinging onto a Kyo that no longer existed, but with every soft smile I had fallen for a Kyo that wasn’t really mine.

He thanked me, but the smile was bittersweet. A kinder version of the smile I had given him back then, that very first day, like my own pity reflecting back at me.

**5\. His smile when he’s hopelessly in love**

Until this morning, I had successfully avoided him for weeks. But despite my best efforts at getting over him, my heart still skipped a beat when I spotted him and Tohru coming out of the dojo.

She was saying something to Shihan, but Kyo seemed impatient to leave, gently pushing his head against her shoulder. Tohru giggled at his silent request for affection, running a hand through his hair before waving goodbye. He looked so content.

I’m happy for them, I swear. But, right then, I could barely stomach the affection. It felt like a knife wrenching through my chest.

Sneaking around to the back door, I chanced a last glance at them, but Kyo’s eyes caught mine, his eyebrow slightly raised, just barely frowning at me as I ducked back behind my hiding place.

“Damn it! He wasn’t supposed to see me!” I kicked the back door open forcefully. 

Kunimitsu winced. “Kagura, I told you to stop doing that. Victor, are you okay?”

In my haste to get inside, I had crashed into someone, bringing both of us crashing down to the dojo floor. Victor was new to the dojo, a friend of Kunimitsu. I’d seen them here a few times, observing the practices, but we had never actually interacted.

Victor just laughed and pulled us both off the floor. “You know, you’re really cute when you’re passionate.” 

Kyo had definitely never smiled at me like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the last one in this series because I didn't have any specific ideas for other characters (and though this was a fun writing exercise, I'm very excited to start writing in third-person again).


End file.
